Should voters have the ability to put an initiative, like raising the minimum wage or legalizing marijuana, on a statewide ballot? New Orleans Representative Mandie Landry says about half of the states have some type of ballot initiative protocol yet Louisiana doesn’t and she’s proposing a change in the state constitution to allow it.
“From a voter perspective a lot of people feel that they can’t really get their representatives or senators to pay attention to what’s important to them and this gives another option, a difficult one, but it does give another option,” said Landry.
And because a ballot initiative is a constitutional amendment the bill must have a two-thirds majority in both chambers. Landry said then it wouldn’t be automatic, it has to go before voters.
“And I know that sounds a little complicated, but what we want is the voters in Louisiana in October to decide if they want a ballot initiative process because the constitution has to be changed,” said Landry.
Even though Landry is a Democrat, she said the bill doesn’t favor either party because initiatives to be decided by voters could be from one end of the political spectrum to the other.
“I’m just hoping that because it’s an election year my colleagues will agree to let’s involve our voters a little more in what we do up here because they’re the ones who put us here,” said Landry.
The fate of House Bill 165 will have to receive a two-thirds majority in both chambers before voters can vote on the right to place their initiatives before voters.
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